So, America, what do you want us to do? Go away! is your answer but that’s not going to happen. We’ve already gone away and now we’re back. In some cases reformed, or “rehabilitated” and in other cases; hardened and pissed off. Either way here we are.

Every application for employment has a little box wherein ex-felons can check that they are. Of course they could also check that they aren’t but what would the use of that be? Most employers can run a criminal check for next to nothing anyway. Oddly enough I remember that back when that Couhey guy brutally murdered Jessica Lunsford he had been employed at a school. I did kinda wonder about that.

Only the most naive among you believe that any employment application is seriously considered if that felony box is checked yes. That little box is “employerspeak” for 'toss in trashcan'. And there is nothing that can be done.

A person can file, and often win, a case of discrimination if they are old or black or infirmed or female, etc. But there is no such remedy available for an ex-felon. And even if there were what attorney would take such a case? They would themselves be ostracized. So with no real prospects of employment what shall we do? Go away?

Many of us have no support systems on the outside so we are looking at going back to our old ways just to survive. And our old ways were against the law. It’s a vicious cycle that appears in your world as a recidivism rate. And in your world the recidivism rate means that felons, once convicted, never learn their lesson and can’t wait to get back on the streets to do more of what usually gets them back in.

Felons never seem to rehabilitate themselves because they can’t get a job. They are the unforgiven. A judge gives a sentence of one year in prison but society gives life. We are the throw-aways but we aren’t the go aways.

If you have lived long enough you have said to yourself, and perhaps to others, something to the effect that God sure has a mystical but weird sense of humor. Who among us hasn’t said “when I get to heaven I’m going to ask God ____________”?

I’ve lived the standard life of ups and downs, good and bad, hero and goat, rich and poor, sickness and health... . But when I get as close to Heaven as I’m going to, and if God makes his way to the cheap seats, I’m not going to ask Him about any of the occurrences that have both plagued and thrilled my life.

Islam, Christianity and Judaism are three of the worlds most enduring religions. These three have major issues among and between themselves. When my Savior died, and the veil was rent, Christianity was presented to the Jews. Vast numbers declined.

Five and one half centuries later Islam was presented to the Jews. There was a good chance that after waiting that long for their Messiah, Mohammed might fill the bill. Again vast numbers declined. Similar but different beliefs, hard feelings, simmering resentments for two thousand years.

During those two millennia the world has become dominated by a narrow scientism, materialism and consumerism that has pushed issues of morality, meaning, and truth to the outer margins of society. To the outer margins of our lives. Much of what passes for religion these days is a privatized and ungrounded debasement of true religion.

Still, during those two millennia one truth has held firm. The holiest and most sacred grounds of Judaism is Jerusalem. The holiest and most sacred grounds of Christianity is Jerusalem. Two of the holiest and most sacred grounds of Islam is Jerusalem. More specifically, in each case, behind the walled city of old Jerusalem, and to put a finer point on it; The Temple Mount, or the Al-Aqsa Mosque, or the Dome of the Rock.

No matter your apocalyptic view, it’s going to play out right there. It’s going to play out within the most hotly contested square mile in the world. The End of Days will find Judaism bending its’ knee to Jesus or to Mohammed, or the red heifer (Numbers 19) will be sacrificed and the Third Temple built.

So, God, knowing the thousands of lives that would be lost and the gallons of blood that would be spilled, why did you allow three of the worlds’ greatest religions to center themselves on the exact same spot?

Whether you are out in the cheap seats or sitting in the front row, when your chance comes what will you ask God?